Patient feels neglected after wrapping rag around infected foot

A man who feels neglected by district nurses had to wrap an old t-shirt around his infected foot as a bandage.

Leslie Joad, 70, from Courtwick Road has suffered with ulcers on his right foot since 2012, when he retired. He has had one the size of a 50p piece on the inside of his foot for 21 months, and it has refused to heal.

Leslie Joad, 70, from Courtwick Road

After he was hospitalised with an infection in November, doctors organised for district nurses to come and change the dressings on his foot twice a week.

But he said nurses only come once a week and do not call to cancel, causing misery for him and his 97-year-old mother Mary, who he lives with.

He said: “It has caused me stress, worry, and is upsetting my mother, and her health has deteriorated. She’s always crying her eyes out.”

Mary said: “I feel absolutely disgusted. When I phoned last night, she said one of the nurses will come out this evening, but no-one ever came.”

On one occasion, he said the nurse told him he did not need bandages on his foot, despite the wound bleeding, and took off all the dressing.

As the wound continued to bleed, Mr Joad said he was forced to use an old t-shirt as a rag to soak up the leaking fluids.

He said a nurse also told him he was well enough to walk about outside – despite being only able to hobble about indoors.

So he could get his foot re-dressed, he had to make an appointment at his GP surgery, The Fitzalan Medical Group.

He said: “I know they are busy, and there must be lots of other patients out there but I bet they did not leave them, so why leave me?

“I worry my condition will get worse without the help, especially if it is leaking like this.

“I just want them to be more truthful: if they are going to come then they should, or at least tell me if they are not.”